KST-AM
KST (1000 AM) is a radio station based in Seattle, Washington. It's format is primarily all-news. From 2002-2008, it was also the flagship station of the Seattle Mariners Radio Network. A 50,000 watt clear-channel station, KST can be heard across much of the Western USA & as far north as Fort McMurray, Alberta @ night History In June 1925, KST was founded on Harbor Island as KSTW 980. In preparation for the switch to the new station, Edward G. Ortega (who founded the station) changed KSTW's call letters to KST (removing the W). KST 980's first broadcast was June 6, 1925. Studios moved to Downtown in 1927. The station also began a long-running affiliation with NBC that year as well, primarily with the Red Network, but also with the short-lived west coast Orange Network from 1931 to 1933. Over the following years, KST's frequency would go from 980 to 1080, back to 980, down to 910, up to 940, then to 990 & settled @ 970 after the NARBA frequency shakeup in 1941. WMFL Company, owner of KST, bought NBC-Blue affiliate KSWA from the network in 1941. In 1944, KST switched frequencies with KSWA (then @ 1000 kilocycles) & sold KSWA off 2 years later. At it's new frequency, KST began broadcasting with 50 kilowatts of power from it's current transmitter site on Vashon Island in 1948. New studios @ the corner of Fourth & Denny, near what is now the Seattle Center, were also inaugurated that year & included space for an expansion into TV broadcasting In 1954, KST-TV took the air on Ch. 6 as an Independent affiliate. KST radio followed suit the next year. By 1964, old-line network programming had been phased out & KST carried a MOR music format. From 1966-1979, KST was the original flagship station of the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA. KST carried a full-service diet of music, personality, news & Washington Huskies sports well into the early '90s. Dayparts gradually changed from music to talk & by 1994, the conversion to news-talk was complete. In late 2002, WMFL Corporation announced a 6-year contract for Seattle Mariners play-by-play rumored to be worth @ least $10 million annually, a record for any MLB radio broadcast agreement. To shore up the surrounding broadcast schedule, KST dropped it's talk shows (as "KST News/Talk 1000") & became an All-News station with reports from an enlarged radio news staff & material from KST-TV newscasts. KST 1000 Newsradio currently carries "KST FOX 6 StormWatch HD" Weather updates every 10 minutes on the 6's & "KST FOX 6 TrafficTracker HD" Traffic updates (powered by Beat the Traffic) every 10 minutes on the 8's, along with Sports Updates @ :15 & :45 past the hour, Entertainment News @ :40 past the hour & Business News @ :12 & :42 past the hour Marketing Slogans *Early 1970s: "From Vancouver (B.C., Canada) to Vancouver (Washington) & from the Olympics to the Cascades, this is KST Radio 1000!" *Early 1980s: "A taste of what you're living for, KST-AM 1000 / Seattle!" *Early 1990s: "The station you depend on!" *2002-2005, 2006-2007: "First For Local News, Traffic & Weather" *2005-2006: "The commuter's best friend" *2007-2009: "The Northwest's News, Traffic & Weather Station" *2009-present: "Everything you need to know"